The Colo Nesco girls were ousted from the Girls State basketball tournament in Des Moines by Newell Fonda by the score of 70-42. The Mustangs stormed out to the lead,
the Royals cut the lead to 27-23 at the half butNewell Fonda outscored the Royals down the stretch 28-10 and never looked back.

The Royals concluded a fine season where they fought there way to girls state with a record of 23-2.

The Iowa State men`s basketball team will host Oklahoma tonight at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames at 8pm. Iowa State is 10-6 in conference play, 20-8 overall, the Sooners have
the same overall record and are 11-5 in the Big 12.

The Girls State Basketball Tournament begins today at the Wells Fargo Arena
in Des Moines. The Colo Nesco Royals will play at ten a -m today against Newell Fonda in a Class 1-A Quarterfinal round game. This is Colo Nesco third straight trip to
state.

A mechanical problem forced a charter plane carrying the Evansville University men's basketball team to turn around and land in Waterloo.

The team spent Wednesday night at a hotel after an uneventful landing at Waterloo airport. The team was headed home to Indiana after losing to Northern Iowa 68-57 in nearby Cedar Falls. On board were three crew members and 22 passengers.

The turboprop was chartered from Corporate Flight Management, of Smyrna, Tennessee. Spokesman Matt Chaifetz told said on Thursday that the plane had gotten blowing snow inside the mechanism that spins the blades. The pilots noticed a vibration they couldn't identify after takeoff, so they returned to Waterloo.

Taurean Prince scored 20 points and 19th-ranked Baylor upset No. 12 Iowa State on the road 79-70 for its third straight win. The Bears hit their last seven 3-pointers and were 14 of 26 from beyond the arc to beat the Cyclones for the first time in 13 meetings.

Aaron White scored a career-high 29 points to lead Iowa to a 68-60 win over Illinois on Wednesday night.

White scored 14 straight points during a key stretch in the second half to give the Hawkeyes (18-10, 9-6 Big Ten) the lead.

Iowa has won three straight games.

Rayvonte Rice scored 20 points to lead Illinois (17-11, 7-8), which made only one field goal in the final five minutes. Ahmad Starks matched a career high with 19 points on five 3-pointers for Illinois.

White hit a career-best three 3-pointers and made 10 of 12 free throws. The senior scored 20 points in the second half — including all of Iowa's points during a 5½-minute stretch.

The Iowa State women`s basketball team beat Texas Tech Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum 59-47. The Clones evened their conference mark at 8-8, the overall record is 17-10. Nikki Moody had 16 points and nine assists. The nine assists by Moody tied the alltime school record in that category.

The Drake Relays is adding a women's 800-meter race to this year's meet.

Officials announced Tuesday that they've lined up eight of the top 10 800-meter runners in the U.S. The field will include Ajee Wilson and Brenda Martinez, the second and third-ranked 800 runners in the world.

Meet officials also say that the world's top-ranked 110-meter hurdler, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde of France, will compete at Drake.

American LaShawn Merritt will be back to defend his meet title in the 400.

The Drake Relays will be held from April 23-25 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis have been hired by Chicago Cubs' executive Theo Epstein, their old boss on the Boston Red Sox.

After serving as a player-coach for Triple-A Iowa during the second half of last season, Ramirez was announced Tuesday as the Cubs' hitting consultant.

"Manny got rave reviews from everybody he worked with, from the young hitters he helped influence to the coaches he spent a lot of time around," said Epstein, the Cubs' president of baseball operations. "He did a great job of fitting in and sharing his wisdom and experience while being a good influence."

Suspended by Major League Baseball in 2009 and 2011 for performance-enhancing drugs, Ramirez made a positive impression with Epstein last summer.

"He was very open with the guys about what not to do in his past and lessons he learned along the way," Epstein said. "He was a huge asset, and we were really hopeful about the possibility of bringing him back."

Ramirez will work with hitters on the Cubs and at Triple-A.

"From the end of last season through the winter and all this month he has expressed an interest in working with our young players," Epstein said. "It is a pretty substantial role. He is going to spend plenty of time in spring training and in Chicago and Des Moines."

Youkilis was given a part-time job as a scouting and player development consultant.

"Youk is just starting out," Epstein said. "He just retired, and he is going to work part-time and see what he is good at. He is someone who definitely wants to work in baseball long-term."

Epstein said he is open to Sammy Sosa returning to the Cubs. Chicago also made four hirings for a new mental skills program, including Dr. Ken Ravizza, who has worked with new manager Joe Maddon when he was with the Angels and Rays.

"I don't think it is that bold of move," Epstein said. "It's just keeping up with the Joneses and trying to get an edge. Twenty-four years ago, or whenever I started, it was a real stigma if you approached a player about working with someone about the mental game. Players are more proactive and acknowledging that's an area they can get an edge."

A 12-time All-Star who last appeared in the major leagues during the opening week of the 2011 season, the 42-year-old Ramirez played winter ball in the Dominican Republic for Aguilas Cibaenas and hit .409 with six homers and 28 RBIs in 147 at-bats.

"In Manny's case the real changes that he made in his life — his habits, his outlook, his behavior, taking more responsibility and accountability for the things he has done and how he wanted to present himself — made us interested in the first place," Epstein said. "If he hadn't, we probably wouldn't have had interest in him joining the organization."

All major league players on 40-man rosters will attend a mandatory education program on domestic violence during spring training.

Major League Baseball said Tuesday the sessions, which will be held for every team under an agreement with the players' association, will be coordinated by San Francisco-based Futures Without Violence.

MLB officials began meeting with groups about domestic violence last fall after a series of high-profile domestic violence cases involving NFL players. Esta Soler, president of Futures Without Violence, said in September that MLB reached out to her group, which works to prevent domestic and sexual violence and child abuse.

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday there also will be an education program for players who are not on 40-man rosters.

The program begins Thursday with Kansas City, Oakland and the Chicago Cubs participating.

The Big Ten says it is seeking more feedback on whether freshmen should compete in athletics.

The conference released a statement Tuesday indicating it wants to know what others think and will seek input from national leaders inside and outside college athletics before the 2016 NCAA National Convention.

The Big Ten is seeking feedback on establishing "a year of readiness for all sports — or select sports; student-athlete time demands; playing seasons; initial eligibility requirements; and other areas impacting academics on college campuses across the country."

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany says the conference "won't go it alone on any of these matters" and plans to work with "our colleagues in the NCAA Division I governance structure."

The Colo-Nesco girls basketball team beat Kee High of Lansing Monday night and made the State Basketball Tournament for the third straight year 44-39.

The Royals got balanced scoring and won playing ugly for the thrid straight
districtgame. The Royals will play the opening game in the Class 1-A portion of the tourney at ten a-m next Monday against Newell Fonda.

NASCAR suspended Kurt Busch on Friday, just two days before the Daytona 500, hours after a Delaware judge said the former champion committed an act of domestic violence against an ex-girlfriend and there was a "substantial likelihood" of him doing it again.

In a 25-page opinion Friday explaining why he issued a no-contact order, the judge said it was more likely than not that Busch "strangled" Patricia Driscoll in his motorhome at Dover International Speedway in September and smashed her head into a wall.

Busch has denied the alleged assault. He becomes the first driver suspended by NASCAR for domestic violence.

Danica Patrick needed a push from teammate Kurt Busch for the final two laps of the second 150-mile Budweiser Duel to make the Daytona 500 field. She then had a heated exchange with rival driver Denny Hamlin after the race. Tony Stewart, her boss, also came down to jaw at Hamlin.

Jeff Gordon and Johnson had swept the front row last Sunday in the first round of qualifying. Then Earnhardt, the defending Daytona 500 winner, won the first 150-mile Budweiser Duel to take the third starting spot in Sunday's season-opening race. Johnson then won the second duel qualifier.

The State Wrestling Tournament continues in Des Moines at Wells Fargo Arena.
After day 1 SE Polk lead Class 3A, Mediapolis 2A and Alburnett Class 1A.
Four wrestlers from the listening area advanced on and four were eliminated.
170 pounder Josh Edel of Marshalltown did advance on to the quarterfinal round.

The Iowa Hawkeye mens basketball team beat Rutgers Thursday night in Iowa City 81-47. Jared Uhtoff had 14 points Aaron White had 8 rebounds. The Hawks are now 7-6 in conference and 16-10 overall. They play at Nebraska Sunday.